Advent Resources: 2013 Edition

I am getting really excited for the year to begin. No, not the calendar year .. .the Church’s Year, the journey from Advent to Christmas, to Epiphany and Lent, through Easter and Pentecost, and down into Ordinary Time. But make no mistake: I’m no liturgical expert. After all, this is only my fifth journey through the liturgical year. 

But there’s so much that I’ve come to love about it. It’s a remarkably refreshing way to mark time. Here is a wonderful new calendar organized around the Church Calendar, yet easily compatible with our Roman calendar of months.

  • For one, it helps us participate in the life of Christ by calling us into a rhythm that retraces His life on earth, His death and His resurrection.
  • Secondly, it helps us celebrate with the wider Body of Christ—connecting us to the church historic and the church universal. 

[MORE RESOURCES ON THE CHURCH CALENDAR: I have excerpted and adapted something from a previous blog to make a new stand-alone blog on the Church Calendar and how observing as a spiritual practice can be helpful HERE.

And, there’s a beautiful art-filled calendar that looks like a wall-hanging calendar, but each page is the new liturgical season. … Check it out HERE.]

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DATES, COLORS AND THEMES:

  • The Four Sundays:
    • December 1
    • December 8
    • December 15
    • December 22
  • Colors and Themes:
    • Week 1—purple, HOPE
    • Week 2—purple, PEACE
    • Week 3—JOY
    • Week 4—purple, LOVE

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PRAYERS:

To me, it’s hard to beat the prayers in the Book of Common Prayer (BCP). Find a link to the 1979 version free online HERE. There is also a nice iPhone app with lectionary readings and prayers out of both the RCL and the BCP. Download it HERE.

First Sunday of Advent:

BCP TRADITIONAL:
Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

BCP CONTEMPORARY:
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Revised Common Lectionary:
Unexpected God, 
your advent alarms us. 
Wake us from drowsy worship, 
from the sleep that neglects love, 
and the sedative of misdirected frenzy. 
Awaken us now to your coming, 
and bend our angers into your peace. Amen.